Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, go figure.
Posted: 9/17/08
A/N: So I got a review to last chapter asking a question about the spelling of Pain's name. And no, it's not spelled with an 'e.' For those of us who keep up with the manga it is fairly obvious that the name is derived directly from the English word pain - and that is in fact what the character's name is. The confusion arises from the first few chapters that he appears in where the translators saw his name written phonetically in Japanese (which translated directly to English does read Pein) and didn't know what to make of it. If you notice, nearly every translation uses the spelling Pain now, because his name literally is the English word pain. This is also confirmed by Databook 3, which just came out a few weeks ago.
This is Chapter 4, the chapter where the action really starts to take off. A year-and-a-half has passed since Naruto came to live with Pain and Konan and his training is well underway.
Enjoy!
Chapter Title: Sympathy For The Devil by The Rolling Stones.
A six-year-old Naruto panted and sputtered against swift-flowing waters as he closed in on the one-hour mark of his daily swim.
Pain had suggested that as an alternative to weight training Naruto should consider swimming in order to build up his strength and stamina. He had failed to mention that the most difficult aspect of the training would simply be cycling fresh air through his young lungs. Naruto couldn't complain, though, despite Pain's occasional remarks about unnatural lung capacity and "restraint." It hadn't taken him long to realize that he rarely ran out of breath while doing his other training any longer.
Naruto had grown to love his daily swims, despite their rather murderous pace. He had found a narrow stretch of river that had carved between two high tree-littered cliffs. This spot served two advantages. First, the water flowed so quickly that Naruto had to cut a respectable pace simply in order to stay stationary in the river while swimming against the current. Second, the high cliffs and even higher treetops served to protect Naruto from any occasional lightning strikes that found their way down from the ever-raining skies.
Konan had told him once that the country was weeping in sorrow for the countless dead that had met their end on the floodplains of Ame. Naruto wasn't sure if she really believed that or not.
Naruto rarely thought about Konoha any longer. His time spent among the leaves seemed like a distant dream from another lifetime. One thing he did reluctantly pine for were the starry night skies that had helped calm him and find sleep after the especially lonely or cruel days in the village. Now, though, the dark skies and dancing lightning that Naruto had become accustomed to held their own special beauty.
He continued his freestyle stroke and cleared his mind of distractions – focusing on his own breathing and the sound of pattering rain hitting the river and drumming on his ears through the water around him. It was a calming distraction that he was often thankful for. Pain made sure that he took in so much on a daily basis – both in training and from the vast library the man had accumulated – that the boy found he sometimes needed to be able to simply clear is often scattered mind.
"Naruto."
He was brought out of his pseudo-trance by a calm voice speaking from right over his shoulder – in the middle of the river. In his shock he sucked in a good amount of water and began coughing loudly while flailing a bit as the current finally began taking him away. His misfortune was only met by a quiet, melodious laughing.
After a moment spent recovering whilst drifting downstream, Naruto turned to glare at the woman who had interrupted him. He placed his right palm firmly on the water's surface and pulled himself from the river to stand atop its surface as though he were standing on a sheet of glass.
"Don't do that Konan. One of these times I'm going to choke to death because of you." The blue-haired woman floated impossibly above the water's surface grinning at him mischievously. Just below where her waist should have met her legs her body and ever-present black cloak seemed to end in thick stacks of paper that blended seamlessly with the rest of her body.
Ever since she had improved her body manipulation technique to the point where she could turn herself completely into origami shapes only a few months ago, she had taken to sneaking up on Naruto at all times of the day. Though she could not split completely out in the rain because her individual paper sections were buffeted too violently by the downpour, she could easily use her less complex manipulations – such as the ability to fly that she was utilizing now. She obviously hadn't wanted Naruto to hear her walking up to him on the water's surface.
"I was almost done. Couldn't you have waited ten minutes?"
Konan's smirk fell off of her face before adopting a more serious countenance. "We have a mission."
Naruto's face formed into a pout. "You and Pain always have missions. When are you going to let me take care of myself out here? The cave is only five minutes away. I don't need a babysitter."
"You do until you show that you're ready to defend yourself from other ninjas. And I meant we all have a mission, the three of us." Naruto's eyes widened at that. "Pain wants us back at the cave right away for a briefing."
A smile stretched across Naruto's face and he took off running across the river's surface and straight up the nearby cliff face. "Bet I can beat you back!"
With that he was gone.
"I need you to kill someone for me."
Naruto gulped at that. Intellectually he knew this day would come from the day he had met Konan. Unfortunately – or fortunately as the case may be - his rather small and sheltered environment had allowed him to avoid thinking about it. Pain and Konan were the only people he'd had any contact with since coming to Rain Country, after all.
Pain studied Naruto closely to judge the boy's reaction. The child had come far since arriving with them and his hopes were high that the lost Namikaze would exceed his expectations.
That had become increasingly more important since Pain was now fairly certain that he would never be able to undo the Fourth Hokage's seal. Weekly examinations of the seal showed that it was most likely too complex to unravel without destroying the boy and fox both. Then there was the problem with the fact that the fox itself wasn't even all there. How Namikaze Minato had managed that was a puzzle that Pain had all but given up hope of solving.
The Kyuubi's power would never be Pain's. It was Namikaze's now. So Pain had to adjust his plans accordingly. Everything would have to be handled… delicately.
"Who?"
Pain looked across his desk at Naruto and Konan who stood before him looking a bit grim. "Technically it doesn't matter who. You have reached the midpoint of your allotted training period and it's time you became a true shinobi. Today simply poses an ample opportunity to accomplish this."
Naruto blinked and nodded. This was another test.
"This morning eight chakra signatures entered our borders from the north and began patrols within our territory, most likely attempting to seek out our primary encampments. Obviously, we cannot allow Hanzou to acquire this information now or ever. We three will go eliminate the group before they can learn anything of value."
Naruto glanced at Konan who was stoically absorbing Pain's words before turning back to Pain and nodding again. He knew that Pain and Konan led an actual army – though he had never seen it. Their camps were a good distance from the cave - absolutely no one knew where Pain and Konan lived besides Naruto. Normally they would be dispatched to eliminate these intruders, but Pain had apparently decided that Naruto needed to make this step forward in his career.
"Go get dressed and gather your equipment. Meet back here in five minutes."
Naruto knew that he was the one being spoken to. He was still only wearing the shorts that he swam in. "Right away."
The rain had stopped for the last few minutes. Naruto wasn't sure how, but it had given Konan an opening to use her jutsu in order to scout the northern areas of their territory. The three of them met – two stood, one floated – on a thick branch in the canopy of the dense wet forests that grew on the foothills of Rain Country. Most of the country consisted of a massive, empty floodplain surrounded by mountains and dense forests. Here in the south there were tall, rocky mountains and plenty of tree cover – perfect for hiding a rebel army.
"Six have set up an encampment in a clearing to the northeast – about ten minutes at a hard pace." She had glanced at Naruto during the last part and received a nod in return.
"Then two are off performing a patrol. You must keep watch for them in case they return."
Konan nodded in response as more paper broke off from her form and dispersed into the trees.
Pain turned to Naruto and sized him up one more time. Even after over a year of seeing the man every day, something about his piercing gaze still unnerved the boy. It was too intense. "Are you ready?"
Naruto paused for a moment and nodded forcefully. "Yes."
"You are lying." Pain did that sometimes. Naruto had never had reason or motivation to lie to Pain over anything important or damning, but the man could always see through Naruto's falsities. In time it would lead Naruto to swear off lying outright altogether – instead settling for half-truths and misdirection. For now, however, Naruto had to come out with the truth.
"I'm nervous. And… and a little scared."
Pain once again studied Naruto for a moment too long, causing the child to avert his eyes and look toward the ground, ashamed.
"Good."
Naruto's head snapped back up in surprise.
"Become too sure of your own abilities and they will fail you. Your nerves keep you attentive and aware of your own vulnerability. Konan and I will make the first assault. You must follow behind us and finish off any who survive our preliminary strike. I do not expect you to fight with these ninja evenly. You are simply supplementary."
Pain paused for a moment and Konan chose this time to speak. "Remember that these men are professionals who will try to protect themselves and kill you if the opportunity arises. They are your enemies and should be treated as such. Do not hesitate to kill them or you risk your own death."
"I understand."
Pain turned to face the northeast and made ready to jump away. "Wait for our attack and then come behind us. You will know when." Then he was gone with Konan right behind him.
Naruto waited a few moments before setting off himself. He wanted to make sure that he was not too far behind his companions but was also wary of stumbling into the enemy encampment if he pushed forward too quickly. There was no way that he could overtake them in a footrace, but they may stop to observe the enemy position before attacking. They both had drilled into Naruto's mind the importance of strategy and tactics when engaging enemies.
It had been about eight minutes by Naruto's count when the forest was ripped open by a massive explosion only about three miles away from Naruto's position. He raced as quickly as possible as he could to the area, only to find a scene of untold devastation. This area of the forest had been completely uprooted – the fallen trees had been violently stripped of their leaves and smaller branches. Some had even been blown straight through the trunks of other, still-standing trees across the crater before him. All of it was on fire. The clearing that he had been told of was completely gone – the swath of destruction here stretched more than sixty feet across and nearly a hundred feet long.
Naruto paused to take in the scene and not for the first time wondered at just how powerful his minders truly were. This level of destruction was both amazing and terrifying to behold.
He shook himself from his state of awe. He had a job to do. Keeping to the still-intact trees around the edge of the crater, Naruto scouted the area for bodies. There should be six, he recalled.
The first item of interest that he stumbled upon was not a body. Not a whole one, at least. It was what looked to Naruto like an arm – severed at the shoulder – but it was difficult to tell since much of the skin and flesh had been burned and ripped from the limb.
That's when the smell of burning flesh first hit him and he was forced to choke back the bile that threatened to rise up in his throat. He needed to get a hold of himself. To keep looking.
He found the rest of the body not on the ground, but spread through a nearby burning tree. The explosion had torn the man's – he thought it was a man – torso in half and had scattered the ninja's entrails about like holiday streamers. It was truly ghastly, but at least the man was dead.
The next one hadn't been so lucky.
He was missing a leg, three fingers on his left hand, an eye, an ear, and most of his scalp. He would have succumbed to his wounds in minutes, but Naruto knew he had to do his duty and kill the man. It was a mission, after all.
The constant moaning coming from the poor soul was bad, but what was worse was the one good eye that followed Naruto as he landed in front of the dying soldier. It would haunt the boy for years – that eye that didn't once blink, didn't once look away from the bright blue eyes of Naruto even as the child reached out with his kunai and slit the man's throat.
He killed a man, but it wasn't so bad. The ninja had already been on his way to the Death God. Naruto had just sped him along. It was an act of mercy, really.
Naruto moved away from the corpse in search of his next target.
Konan watched covertly as Naruto traversed the battlefield. She already knew exactly where the six ninjas had fallen. Three had been torn to shreds in the explosion. They had been sitting in the middle of their small camp conversing with one another when Pain and Konan had struck with a wind and fire fusion attack. She had been a bit worried that Pain had overdone it with his wind strike and that there would be no survivors for Naruto to find, but her fears were unfounded. The horrible gore was probably for the best. Most ninja battles didn't get this ugly and Naruto would most likely not see anything much worse – at least not for a long, long time.
She hoped.
The fourth man – the one that Naruto had just silenced – had been in one of the tents during their attack. His may have been the worst end of them all since he had been alive long enough to experience it. Naruto had acquitted himself well, though, and now the man was dead.
Naruto was approaching the last two bodies. They had been patrolling the outskirts of the camp and were on the far side of the clearing from Pain and Konan when their jutsu hit. While this would normally have been fortuitous for them, in this case it meant that they were in the way of countless pieces of wooden shrapnel in the form of chips, splinters, and in some cases whole branches.
Their bodies were mostly intact. One had fallen on top of the other and both bodies lay still. The top body had been mostly protected from harm by the thick tan flak jacket he wore, but fate had been unkind and a small piece of wood had caught him in the throat just beneath the bulky re-breather that he wore. By the looks of it, the shard had split his throat open and the man had bled to death on his comrade.
The second body – the one that had fallen beneath his partner's - still had a shard of wood sticking out of its left arm at the bicep that drew a decent amount of blood. The man's right leg had also been broken if the unnatural position it lay in was any indicator. Konan couldn't see any other wounds on the body from any of her many vantage points. She did notice, however, that the body was playing dead.
A hand on her shoulder stopped her from moving forward to assist Naruto. She turned quickly to see her friend standing beside her and watching their young companion intently. She was uncomfortable with the idea of leaving Naruto to his own devices. That man was at least a chuunin. She deferred to Pain on this matter though – he had taken Naruto on as his apprentice at her request and he always had a plan.
She just hoped his decision wouldn't end up a poor one.
Naruto came upon bodies three and four at the edge of the blast crater. They looked to have survived the attack much more intact than their comrades. The top one of the two looked dead, but he could be faking - blood could be faked.
Naruto threw the still-bloody kunai in his hand at the top body. It pierced his throat, but no more blood rushed and there was no reaction. The man was dead.
Something about the position of the second man made him nervous. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him, but Naruto chose to proceed cautiously. Something felt wrong.
Drawing another kunai from the pouch on the back of his waist, Naruto approached the two bodies. He was only five feet away when the top body came flying at him, knocking him back and off-balance. Naruto barely had time to see the living ninja throw his injured body towards him behind his deceased partner's, kunai in hand.
Naruto's own kunai came up to block the attack, but the superior strength of the Rain ninja overpowered the boy's hasty defense and batted the boy's kunai away. Naruto could do nothing but raise his left arm in defense as the larger man's kunai came back toward's his head.
The kunai bit deeply into Naruto's forearm. He was sure that he could feel it scraping bone. Despite the larger ninja's success, his injured leg set him off balance as he placed weight on it. At the same time, Naruto spun his body away from his enemy out of reflex thanks to the horrible pain in his arm.
With his back exposed, Naruto knew he was done for. His injured arm was cradled pitifully against his chest and he struggled to bite back the pain. He had screwed up and was going to die now.
But he didn't want to die. He was going to be a great ninja.
He did the only thing he could think of.
The Rain ninja was in dire straights, he knew. The brat that had come to finish him off wasn't the only rebel around here. He had to kill the brat quickly and go.
As a jounin of the Village Hidden in the Rain he didn't believe the stories that the captured rebels told before they were executed. They were brainwashed criminals - foolish vigilantes that wished to overthrow Lord Hanzou's rule.
But for a moment there, when that enormous firestorm had struck their camp and sent him flying into the woods, he wondered if perhaps God really had come to smite him.
It wasn't worth wasting his thoughts on. He was a jounin and he was in trouble. He was in pain. He had lost a lot of blood. He couldn't stand straight. He couldn't think straight.
He had wounded the small child in front of him – a deep cut to the arm. The boy was obviously not experienced in actual combat considering his age and reactions. Despite the deep strike he had landed, the pain and damage to his leg forced him to pause in his assault – if only for a moment.
As he steadied himself and readied his next strike – one that would sever the boy's spine at the neck – he was shocked and stunned to witness the wounded child disappear into a cloud of smoke.
It was a clone. He could have kicked himself for his lack of attentiveness. He spun around to scan for more enemies to come face to face with the uninjured boy not five feet from him – kunai drawn and charging at a full sprint.
But he was a jounin and no brat was going to kill him today. He easily broke the boy's guard and gave a small grin as the boy impaled himself on the older ninja's kunai.
He knew something was wrong when neither the boy's expression nor his momentum changed. Then the boy shimmered into nothingness.
The Rain jounin didn't have time to contemplate his mistake before his own spinal column was cleaved in two at the neck by a six-year-old boy named Naruto.
Naruto panted as the adrenaline continued to burn through his veins. That bastard had tried to kill him.
He knew that he was lucky to be alive – lucky that the man had been so disoriented. He also knew that he would never doubt his instincts in the future – not for a second. They had saved his life.
Someone landed lightly behind him and he turned to find yet another Rain ninja. Though most of the man's face was covered by the standard Rain re-breather, Naruto knew from his murderous eyes that he had witnessed his comrade's demise. The ninja charged while drawing a kunai of his own. Naruto couldn't beat this one. He was entirely uninjured. Must have been one of the two that had been on patrol.
Naruto raised his own kunai before him prepared to go out fighting, but the gesture was unnecessary.
The Rain ninja's furious eyes shifted to shocked and confused as a metal ring sporting the kanji for "nothingness" was pressed into his exposed throat, followed by the rest of the black-painted fingers of Pain's right hand. The Rain ninja's momentum changed in mid-air and he was slammed into the base of a nearby tree trunk with the offending hand still wrapped around his neck.
Something broke when the man hit the tree – and it wasn't just the bark and wood that shattered at the impact. Pain drew his hand back and rammed it into the man's throat, crushing his windpipe. Something black slipped out of the sleeve of his robe and pierced the Rain ninja's chest just over his heart. It all happened so quickly that Naruto wondered if he had dreamed it, but the lifeless eyes of the ninja as he slumped to the ground and the red blossoming over the wound confirmed that Pain had indeed shoved something through the man's heart.
Pain slowly turned to look over to Naruto's right. Dazed as he was, the boy followed the eyes of his master to meet the strange sight of a floating Konan impaling what appeared to be a mummy with a white spear. The paper making up the spear and the mummy's wrappings quickly retreated to reform Konan's legs and revealed another Rain ninja impaled through the chest. The body slumped lifelessly to the ground and Konan walked over to join them.
"Not bad."
Naruto thought he had heard Pain speak through the slight stupor he was experiencing. The adrenaline was coming down now and his arm hurt like someone was holding a hot iron to his flesh. He had lost a fair bit of blood. "What?"
Pain turned to look Naruto in the eye. "I said not bad. You acquitted yourself quite nicely. How did you know that the man was faking death?"
Naruto tried to shake the blinking spots out of his eyes. He was feeling a bit lightheaded. "I had a bad feeling. I think I'm going to sit down." Rather than sit, he slumped to the wet, spongy forest floor and blinked a bit stupidly.
"He's lost a lot of blood. I'll bandage him up."
"Hm, let's see the wound then." Pain quickly and carefully ripped the bloodied gray sleeve from Naruto's shirt and knelt down to inspect the gash on Naruto's forearm.
"It's deeper than I thought. We need to tie it up quickly."
Pain remained silent as he stared at the wound with his mercury eyes. "It's healing already. Kyuubi…" His voice was so low that Naruto and Konan barely caught it. Pain shook his head and nodded to Konan. She bent down and began wrapping the wound in gauze while some of her paper pressed tightly around Naruto's upper arm to lessen the blood flow.
Naruto was drifting off from a combination of blood loss and fatigue. That just wouldn't do. "Does it hurt?"
Naruto looked at Pain drowsily, but didn't answer.
Pain frowned a bit and grabbed Naruto by his right shoulder – the one connected to his uninjured arm. The boy wasn't in any real danger but it would be best for all three of them if he stayed awake. "Does your arm hurt?"
"A little… it's dull… numb."
"What did you mean you had a bad feeling about that ninja?"
"Felt wrong… in my gut."
"That's why you made the clone before you went too close to him? Instinct?"
"Yeah… instinct. Wouldna worked if he wasn't so beat up. Got lucky."
"Transforming into yourself to create a smokescreen was rather brilliant, I must say. You made him think the real you was some sort of clone dispersing. You're correct though, it wouldn't have worked if he hadn't been so delirious." Pain stood up as Konan finished. "We'll have to work on your reflexes though. Can't have you turning your back to the enemy every time you get cut, even though it let you form hand seals without being seen."
Konan lifted Naruto onto her back and the three of them set off back to their home without another word. Konan let Naruto sleep most of the way.
They left the bodies for the birds. Let whoever stumbles across them wonder.
There was much to be done before tomorrow.
Naruto sat on a stool at the front of Pain's study frowning rather spectacularly at a scroll Pain had given him to read. He had been forced to forgo his training today because of the wound he had received the day before in the fight with the Rain ninjas despite the fact that his arm had been completely healed – bar a few small aches – when he awoke that morning. Naruto normally loved to read and learn whatever Pain was willing to teach him - as well as anything else that sparked Naruto's curiosity in the library - but the contents of this scroll in particular gave Naruto quite a bit of unpleasantness to ponder.
At the moment that unpleasantness translated to a great deal of fidgeting. "This means…"
"Finish reading the scroll before you ask me any questions, Naruto. I imagine that you have determined that what it contains is rather important, especially to you."
Naruto sent an angry glare at Pain for that. The man didn't even look up from whatever it was he was working on today. He had miles and miles of notes in the scrolls he kept from what Naruto could tell. Who knew what he was doing.
An hour later Naruto was fuming. "I'm done. Now…"
"What is a bijuu?"
Naruto growled. "Something I have inside of me?"
Pain looked up and raised an eyebrow. "You are angry with me because of this? I did not put it there. Now, what is the general definition of a bijuu?"
"Why do I…"
"Naruto." Pain's voice was deathly cold. He rarely if ever expressed any sort of emotion, but in this case he made his displeasure towards Naruto's insubordination crystal clear. "Answer my question."
Naruto was too angry to cower, but his better judgment won out and he drew deep breath before beginning. "A bijuu is a tailed beast. They are malicious, sentient formations of pure chakra that take on the likenesses of various animals and are known as avatars of destruction. No one knows how they were formed or how long they have existed, but they are known as great sources of power in the world. They number nine – each with a corresponding number of tails. One for the Ichibi. Two for the Nibi. Three for the Sanbi…"
"Very good." Pain rose from his chair and moved around his desk to lean back on the piece of furniture – a favorite spot of his for his lessons with Naruto. "Now, what is a jinchuuriki?" He spoke again before Naruto could open his mouth. "The general definition, please."
"A jinchuuriki is a human sacrifice that has a bijuu sealed within him at the time of his birth. Theoretically a jinchuuriki can learn to harness the power of the bijuu it harbors in battle as a source of great power. Only a newborn child can be used for this process because a newborn's chakra coils are still undeveloped and can therefore adapt to the massive influx of chakra associated with having a chakra monster exist within him."
"What is the purpose of creating a jinchuuriki?"
Naruto snorted. "To create a living weapon out of an innocent baby, obviously."
Pain paused a moment to study Naruto – as he was wont to do. The words rolled slowly off of his lips when he spoke and Naruto could tell that he was reaching the end of his tolerance for Naruto's attitude. "Obviously. Is there any other reason that a person might create a jinchuuriki that you could think of?"
"Some people like tormenting small children?"
Pain stood up to walk back to his seat. "I don't appreciate you wasting my time with childish antics. Return when you can act like a rational person."
Naruto was angry, yes, but he had never pushed Pain this far before. And he felt ashamed. As he lowered his head to stare at his lap he was surprised to feel something warm splash down on his hands. He hadn't noticed he was crying. He hadn't done that since coming to Rain Country. Wiping his face with his sleeve he looked up to try to apologize only to find that Pain had remained standing in front of his desk looking at Naruto intently.
Naruto looked away quickly. When he spoke, it was in a quiet voice that seemed foreign to him. "Why me?"
"Do you really think you are ready to know?"
"I… I'm sorry about just now. This is why everyone hated me in Konoha, right? Why would anyone do this to me?"
"Perhaps we should return to a previous question. Why would anyone create a jinchuuriki if not to create a weapon?"
Naruto rubbed his face with his sleeve again. He was still crying. Damn. "I don't know."
"Have you guessed which bijuu is within you?"
"I'm not sure. I don't know where they are or who has them. It could be any of them, right?"
"I believe that the story of the Fourth Hokage is well known in Konoha, is it not?"
"Of course. He killed the Kyuubi and saved the village."
Pain raised an eyebrow at that. "Killed? The Kyuubi? I think not. You did read the scroll didn't you? I will tell you now that the Kyuubi is not only the strongest of the nine but also dwarfs the others in terms of sheer power. What happens when a bijuu is defeated?"
"Only the weaker ones have ever been defeated in battle and not simply sealed, but they always come back after a while. Does that mean they can't die?"
"They are simply formations of chakra. They are not alive in the same way that we are. They have no flesh and blood form. Their chakra is so great that they are self-sustaining entities. They very well may be truly immortal."
"Then the Fourth couldn't have killed him. Are you saying he sealed him in me? How do you know?"
"You were born in Konoha on the day of the Kyuubi's attack. You did know that your birthday is October 10th, did you not? It isn't common knowledge to most."
Naruto's tears just wouldn't stop. "I didn't know that. No one ever told me." He drew a shaky breath. "So he made me into a jinchuuriki so that the village would be saved. Then why did everyone hate me?"
"Because they were stupid and angry. The Fourth Hokage was worshipped as a great hero in Konoha even before his death. He gave his life to seal away the monster that killed their friends and family. The pain that loss caused had to have an outlet and that outlet became you. It isn't uncommon for jinchuuriki to be seen as dangerous monsters causing them to become outcasts in society. Forcing such a massive and terrible power upon a newborn child can lead to severe consequences for all involved. The bijuu do not appreciate their imprisonment and sometimes will twist and warp the jinchuuriki's psyche into something untenable."
"The bijuu can speak to the jinchuuriki? Then why hasn't the Kyuubi spoken to me? He's supposed to be evil!"
"We will discuss that after your questions are answered. Do you have any more?"
Naruto took a moment to collect himself. He needed to know. "Why me?"
Pain's eyes drifted away from Naruto, lost in thought, before the man gave a small nod to no one. "Konan and I believe that the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, was most likely your father. I will show you a picture of him later, but you look almost identical. It would be the simplest and most logical explanation."
Naruto's gaze returned to his hands folded in his lap and the tears seemed to come even faster. He had always dreamed that one day his parents would come to get him when he lived in Konoha – just like Konan had. He had always dreamed that he would have a big family with brothers and sisters, a mother and father, and that they would love him. "He did this to me even though I was his son? Didn't he care about me?"
"Don't think little of him for what he did. It was no doubt the most difficult choice of his life to seal the Kyuubi into you. If he had sealed it into no one you would have died along with the rest of the villagers. He could not ask the villagers to give up what he would not." Pain stood up and turned to examine his paper-littered desktop. He began sifting through the sheets as if looking for something. "Not just anyone can contain the power of a bijuu – and certainly not that of the Kyuubi. Namikaze Minato was no doubt one of the strongest shinobi to ever live and his blood flows within you. He chose you because you were the best option. In any case, the seal he placed on you proves his love for you."
With a rather silly flourish he swept a sheet of paper off of the desk and handed it to Naruto, who quickly wiped his teary hands on his pants and took the sheet. Naruto appreciated the stoic man's antics, slight as they were. "This is the seal that holds the Kyuubi dormant within you. I must confess that it is the most complex fuuinjutsu I have ever seen or heard of."
Naruto looked up from the intricate seal drawn in simple pencil on the paper.
"It is unlike any other jinchuuriki seal in existence. I am certain that he designed it specifically for you – to help you achieve your goals." Pain leaned back on his desk adopting a thoughtful pose. "The trouble is that I can't determine just what it is that this seal is supposed to do. Unless I see the original schematics it's unlikely that I can determine its purpose. The fact of the matter is that the seal is slowly breaking down."
Naruto almost panicked. "But then Kyuubi will get out!"
Pain cocked his head to the side in thought – a strange expression for him. "Maybe yes, maybe no. Your father did something to the Kyuubi before he sealed it within you that may change the equation. What I can tell you is that the breaking down of the seal is a gradual process and that it was meant to occur. Whatever happens when the seal is damaged enough is only known by Namikaze."
Naruto scrunched his face up at the name. His tears had stopped flowing down his red and puffy face during Pain's explanation. "Why am I called Uzumaki if my father was Namikaze?"
"To protect you from his enemies of course. Why, if anti-Konoha elements learned that you were both a powerful jinchuuriki and the son of their enemy's greatest hero who knows what they might do? Maybe kill you."
"Maybe kidnap me?"
A small grin spread across Pain's face. "Who's to say?"
"Are you anti-Konoha then?"
Pain's grin faded and his face shifted back to its usual expressionless façade. "That's a question better left for another day. The short answer is no, I don't have a problem with Konoha specifically. My issues lie with the way of the world in general. There's too much unhappiness. Too much war."
Naruto nodded. He liked Pain and Konan quite a lot, but understood that as ninjas he may not like what they were doing. He'd let his questions rest for now.
"Back to the seal and the reason the Kyuubi has not contacted you. Your father took special precautions to prevent the Kyuubi from manipulating you before you were old enough to, hopefully, resist its machinations. He also blocked nearly all of its chakra from you. That is the reason why you have never drawn on any significant amount of it as of yet. A large influx of the Kyuubi's tainted chakra could overwhelm your own chakra – especially if you had not been training to increase your chakra capacity. With your father's safeguards in place, even if you had remained a civilian your entire life Kyuubi should not have been able to influence you unduly without your consent. This is one of the reasons why I say your father's love for you is shown in the seal he made. He planned for every contingency."
Naruto smiled at the thought of the Fourth Hokage – his father! – putting so much effort into keeping him safe.
"The fact of the matter, though, is that you started your ninja training much earlier than he had any right to expect. As a result your chakra reserves are almost certainly higher than any other child your age in the world as a combination of your training, genetics, and Kyuubi's presence. I would like to accelerate the process of breaking the blocks on your father's seal so that you can access Kyuubi's power earlier." The look of horror on Naruto's face caused Pain to continue quickly. "There is a good reason for this. At the rate the blocks on the seal are deteriorating it will take at least another six years before they fall and the seal begins working in earnest. Breaking these blocks will not damage the seal itself."
Naruto's expression had calmed a bit, but he still did not look happy about the prospect. "When the seal begins its work your chakra levels will rise quite abruptly. Frankly, your chakra control will disappear and you'll have to start all over again. The sooner this process is accomplished the sooner you can grow accustomed to your new chakra levels and the sooner your body can adapt to using the Kyuubi's chakra. Your ninja career will have to be put on hold when the blocks break and I believe it would be better if that occurred sooner rather than later."
"Could anything bad happen?"
"I don't believe so. As it is now, the blocks will break down slowly and your chakra will gradually grow until the final break where there will be a large surge. By breaking them now the surge will be larger and therefore it may be a bit more stressful on your body. I'm confident, however, that the seal will protect you from any truly harmful backlash. As I've said, you already have more chakra than most ninja twice your age. My main concern is that the Kyuubi will be able to contact you."
This prospect frightened Naruto quite a bit. He had no intention of ever talking to the horrible monster that had killed so many – including his own father.
"As I've told you, this process is inevitable. The only question is if you think you are able to ignore its manipulations or not. I do not believe that it will be able to converse with you on a regular basis. Only in times of strife or strong emotion will the two of you speak."
Naruto nodded.
"I am confident that you are ready to shoulder such a responsibility. You have handled yourself well this last year with us. I would like to go ahead and perform this procedure, but the final decision must be yours as the Kyuubi's warden."
Naruto steeled himself before responding. "Alright, I'll do it. I can't afford to be wasting time if I want to be the greatest ninja ever."
Pain nodded and turned to his desk. He began to roll up scrolls and stack papers before carrying them to the shelves that surrounded the room.
"Um, we're doing this on your desk?"
Pain turned around to face Naruto. "Yes."
Naruto nodded slowly. "We, uh, don't need some big sealing circle or something?"
Pain continued shuffling the papers together. "We're only breaking some superficial blocks. It's a simple process."
"Oh. Okay then."
Naruto was brought out of his puzzlement by the door to the study opening. Naruto expected to find Konan walking in, and she was, but behind a rather large man dressed entirely in black. Naruto nearly panicked at a stranger's presence in their home. It had never happened before.
"It's alright Naruto. He's only here to observe." Naruto looked back at Pain but his focus quickly returned to the stranger. Naruto hadn't seen many fat ninjas before. There were a few in Konoha – he knew – but he mostly thought of ninjas as fit and trim warriors. This one was not. His strange physique was only eclipsed in weirdness by the fact that he was completely covered in black cloth from head to toe. The only parts of the man's body that were exposed were his two hands. The fingernails were painted black – just like Pain's and Konan's – so he assumed he was a subordinate or ally of some kind. Naruto did wonder how the man was expected to observe with his eyes covered in cloth, but he supposed that it was probably thin enough that he could see through it.
"Naruto."
The boy turned back to Pain, who was gesturing towards the desk. Naruto walked over and easily hopped up onto it – this time under his own power – and removed his shirt. As he lay back on the hard surface a question popped into his mind after recalling many uncomfortable examinations of his seal.
"Is this going to hurt?"
Pain took on a thoughtful expression before reaching down and pinching a nerve on Naruto's neck. The boy blacked out like a switch had been thrown.
"No."
Naruto exited the training cavern with his spirits high. He had finally managed to regain the ability to walk all the way to the cavern's ceiling up its slick walls. A perfect doppelganger of himself met him in their makeshift kitchen. The imposter passed him a plate of slightly burnt fish before shrugging and disappearing in a puff of smoke. Naruto would just have to choke it down.
Ever since Pain had cleared the blocks from his seal two weeks prior Naruto had been afflicted by horrible chakra control that was reminiscent of when his training had first begun. This was almost worse though. He was relearning the basic skills at an even slower pace than the first time around. It took him nearly all of the first week to simply relearn the transformation and replacement jutsus that academy students were often taught. Even worse, he was entirely incapable of creating a clone like the one that had saved his life against the Rain ninja.
After listening to Naruto complain for nearly an entire afternoon and evening, Pain had decided he'd had enough and taught Naruto the advanced Shadow Clone technique. It used a ridiculously large amount of chakra and was therefore perfect for Naruto. Despite learning the jutsu in only a few hours, he was forced to spend all of the next day memorizing and reciting the advantages and drawbacks of the jutsu – which was classified as jounin level.
The jutsu was incredibly dangerous by its very nature. Like other clone jutsus, the number of clones that a ninja is capable of forming is dependent on the user's level of chakra. What set the shadow clone apart was that instead of using a static amount of chakra to form a clone, it split the ninja's entire chakra pool evenly between the clones and the user. Making just one shadow clone meant that the ninja lost access to half of his total chakra pool.
There was a good reason for this, though. Not all of that chakra was used in the formation of the clone – in fact relatively little was. The remaining chakra allowed the clone to use the full range of jutsus that the original could. The shadow clone would only be destroyed when its chakra ran out or its chakra matrix was interrupted by outside forces – usually an attack. The shadow clone was a substantial clone and had the same physical characteristics of its creator. It felt, looked, and acted like the original in every way. It even formed a chakra circulatory system that mimicked that of the user.
Best of all – in Naruto's opinion – was the fact that when the clone was dispersed - either because all of its chakra had been depleted or because its matrix had been destroyed - the user and all of the remaining clones recovered the unused chakra from the dispersed clone. What was particularly useful about the shadow clone was that with this chakra came all of the memories and experiences that the destroyed clone had obtained. If a clone read a book and then dispersed it would be as though Naruto himself had read the book. The possibilities for learning and even training were endless.
As excited as Naruto was about learning the Shadow Clone jutsu, he was equally baffled by Pain's insistence that Naruto now hunt and cook for himself with the abilities this new jutsu imparted to him.
He still sucked at cooking. He couldn't wait to be able to water walk again. It would help him quite a lot when it came to fishing for food every day. He liked fish well enough and they were much easier to come by than the other wildlife in the area – though Naruto was sure he'd be testing his mettle against new critters in no time.
Finishing off his less than appetizing dish Naruto headed towards Pain's study to inform him of his progress and to get his assigned reading. Pain liked to set out lessons in the early evenings to help Naruto cool down from a day of training and to make sure that he was knowledgeable about ninja abilities and the world at large. Some of it was boring, but Naruto supposed that if he wanted to become the greatest ninja of all time he should probably start by learning about other great ninjas.
He didn't bother knocking on Pain's door any longer. The man could probably hear him coming from the other side of the complex and never minded the interruptions. The door wasn't even half open when Naruto started talking. "I finally made it back to the ceiling. I think using some shadow clones helped speed it up a bit. I would make two and replace them every five minutes and I think it helped…"
He stopped when he noticed that, for the second time in two weeks, an unfamiliar figure was standing in Pain's study. This one could be described as even more odd than the fat man before. He was slim and about as tall as Pain with spiky black hair that fell down to the middle of his back. He wore standard shinobi sandals that led to wrappings that extended halfway up his calves. There they met loose, black pants that carried up to an equally loose black top under which Naruto could see a tight shirt covering the man's neck up to the base of his jaw. Most puzzling of all was the striking, oval mask that completely covered the man's face and was held in place by a thick black band around the back of his head. The mask was a bright orange with black tendrils that seemed to reach from the right side of the mask to the left where they converged around the mask's only eyehole. On his left hip hung a long katana with an ivory sheath.
Naruto had no idea what to make of him.
Pain and the masked man had been staring silently at Naruto even as he entered the room. The mystery man turned back to Pain after a moment as if expecting a response to the intrusion.
"That's excellent news, Naruto. Return to your room and I'll come for you after this meeting is over."
"Naruto…" The masked man spoke for the first time while slowly turning his head back to view the boy.
Naruto found the strange figure's voice entirely unremarkable and continued to study the man even as he felt his inquisitive look returned.
Then Naruto died.
Or at least that's the first thing he could think of to describe the sensation. It was as if he was being suffocated – squeezed in a vice – except from all sides and all at once. The pressure was unbearable, but even worse was the feeling of hatred – of absolute loathing – that he was experiencing. All of the glares he could remember from back in Konoha combined were nothing compared to this. The world wanted him to die – to disappear – and Naruto wanted nothing more than to oblige it.
He felt himself slipping into darkness. He couldn't take this anymore. He just wanted it to end.
Madara! Calm yourself…
Naruto wasn't sure how long he was out for, but he knew immediately that something was wrong.
He was sitting on a cold stone floor in what felt like half an inch of stale water. It soaked his pants and caused him to shiver slightly. Even so, he didn't feel he had the strength to stand back up.
As his eyes opened he panicked when he saw that the masked man was standing over him. He pushed himself away frantically with his hands, but only succeeded in backing into a cold, concrete wall only a few feet from where he had first started. He was still in the puddle. He was cold. He was scared.
The man turned away and slowly padded off across the stone floor – which Naruto now saw was truly immense. Even with the dim, eerie lighting that seemed to emanate from nowhere he could see that the room he was in – for that is what it was – was massive. The wall behind him stretched out almost to the limits of his vision. To the left he could barely make out another blank wall with a small hallway leading off of it – to where Naruto didn't care to know. Across from him was another seemingly endless wall – gray and imposing. There was no wall to the right. Instead there were what appeared to be evenly spaced pillars made of corroded metal that reached from floor to ceiling. Behind them lay only darkness.
The masked man had approached the center of the pillared side of the room and looked it up and down before lightly clearing his throat. The noise carried regardless.
"Six years of darkness and yet you dare to show your face before me now… betrayer." The voice was deafening, malicious, inhuman. Naruto realized that there was something behind those pillars and it was evil. Naruto curled even further into a ball and leaned into the wall for support. He didn't want to know what lay beyond the rusty pillars – the rusty bars. He closed his eyes.
He wanted to disappear.
"Surely I have no idea what you mean." It was the masked man speaking again. Naruto hated him. It was that man that brought him here – that was talking to it.
"Do not lie to me human! You sent me there, knowing what would happen. I am not your subordinate or you tool to be experimented with! Know that I blame you for this… imprisonment." Naruto didn't know how something so evil could sound even more terrifying. His entire body was shaking now. Why wouldn't it end?
"How was I to know that the mighty Kyuubi would be defeated so soundly? I'll admit I had my concerns, but surely you didn't expect me to foresee your current… circumstances."
The cavernous room shook with a roar more horrible than any Naruto had ever imagined. It was like a storm. "You patronize me even now. Were I able I would consume you, body and soul, for such insolence. Listen to me and listen well, Uchiha Madara. Get me out of this place. Get me out or on my very existence I swear your misery will be dwarfed only by the vastness of time itself. Get. Me. Out."
Naruto desperately wanted the voice to go away. Why was it still talking? Who was that man and why did it know him? As the questions raced through his reeling mind his body continued to curl up on itself and shake uncontrollably. He silently begged for someone, anyone to end this now. He wanted to go home.
A hand grabbed him gently but firmly under his upper arm and he could feel himself being pulled up from the wet floor. "Stand up."
He knew that voice.
He opened his eyes and lifted his head to see Pain standing beside him looking down on him with just a bare hint of concern written on his face. "Stand up, Naruto."
The boy staggered to his feet and took a moment to find his balance. The shaking had stopped and he felt better already with Pain there. The stoic man – the only man that Naruto saw as family – turned his attention to the masked man who still stood in front of the monumental cage. The masked man – Madara – hadn't stopped his conversation with the monster. Naruto could see the gigantic, glowing red eyes of the beast now – each taller than a man. They were truly terrifying, but with Pain standing beside him he could look upon them – with fear, yes, but also with determination.
Konan's words from a time long past came back to him. "If you look away from what you fear then your terror of it will only grow."
Naruto looked upon the Kyuubi now and felt his fear diminish – if only slightly.
"No need to use such damning words, Kyuubi. Plans are already in motion to release you from this place. All I require is your patience in this matter." Naruto had to admire the man just a bit for standing before the monster and speaking so calmly to it. He supposed that he was a novice in these matters, though.
Pain placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "It's easy to show courage in the face of a being who can do nothing but curse its own helplessness. Remember this and remember how far the mighty – and the arrogant – can fall." The words were said softly so that only the two of them could hear. It made Naruto feel warm that even before such great and terrible forces he and Pain could still conspire a bit together. He knew his master was a powerful and important man with powerful and important allies like this Uchiha Madara, so when Pain talked to Naruto he felt important too - especially now when other powerful and important people – and things – were present. He wasn't being left out. "I think it's time we get back on track, don't you agree?"
Naruto could only stare as Pain began walking forward towards Madara.
"Do not offer me false platitudes. Free me from this place and then, perhaps, I will forgive your treachery."
"As loath as I am to cut this reunion short, you did not come to me today to have words with this… thing." Madara tensed slightly as Pain spoke from behind him and turned slowly to observe the newcomer.
Madara stood still for a moment staring at Pain. "I did not expect to see you here."
The fearsome red orbs narrowed at the newcomer. "Who are you, human, to interrupt us?"
Whatever the Kyuubi had been expecting, it was not the response it received. Pain looked up to stare at the monster before him and showed no reaction when the Kyuubi's narrowed eyes widened as their gazes met. "I am the one who will be freeing you from this place." Pain glanced over his shoulder towards Naruto before returning his rippled pools to the bijuu. "Or not."
Pain's attention turned back to Madara. "Shall we return to our business, then?"
The masked man studied Pain for a moment before nodding slightly. "Very well."
Then he was gone.
The piercing-riddled man gestured Naruto forward to stand beside him. The boy did so reluctantly. Pain placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder once more and they faced the Kyuubi together.
"I take it you can feel the truth of your situation, can you not? You already know that you will not be escaping this place."
Luminous eyes narrowed as they stared down at the two. "I will not abide imprisonment, human. Be it in my true form or within this body, I shall be free."
Naruto didn't like that one bit, but decided to let Pain do the talking. After all, he didn't know what to say.
"In this body, you say? I would suggest then, Kyuubi, that you not hamper my student's growth. If you intend to take his form, would it not be better if it were strong?" As he spoke he gave Naruto's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
"You do not believe me capable of gaining control. I tell you this, human. Many have underestimated me in the past. None have survived." The monster paused for a moment and its massive red eyes closed in thought. "Still, your words hold some merit even if you speak them for the boy's sake. I will not fight him if he proves to be a worthy vessel for my power." The giant orbs snapped back open. "What say you, boy? Will you continue to cower before the strong or will you rise up and take the power of this world for yourself?"
Naruto knew that it was time for him to speak. He steeled himself and met the monster's eyes unflinchingly. "I've already promised to become the greatest ninja in the world. You don't have to worry about my determination." A frown grew across the boy's face. "I may have been afraid when I first came here, but don't think for a second that you can twist me from behind my father's prison. I will do what I want and you won't stop me."
"Strong words from a whelp so sure of his own invulnerability. Do not flaunt it so. I will not abide your foolishness. I will not abide death. Not now. Not ever."
Pain stood forward again. "In any case, there is still the possibility that you can be freed. Only time will tell. Know that your fate rests in Naruto's hands, Kyuubi. And mine."
The Kyuubi's eyes narrowed in anger and a low growl emanated from its cage. "I have nothing left to say to maggots such as you. Be gone from here!"
So they went.
It was later that very night, after the man known as Uchiha Madara had departed, that Pain and Naruto spoke again.
"Will he really be able to take over my body?"
"It is possible, but for that to happen the seal would have to weaken over a decade or more. I cannot be sure if it is even possible. In any event, we have plenty of time to prepare a strategy if that time ever comes."
"Won't I die if Kyuubi gets out like that man wanted?"
"Yes. But as I've said before, I doubt that such a thing is even possible. We will investigate. In the meantime, allow me to worry about Madara while you focus on your training. Perhaps we will start working with the Kyuubi's chakra soon. It will be necessary for you to learn how to harness it."
"Good night, Pain." Naruto walked slowly back to his room to fall into bed. He was dead on his feet.
"Naruto." The boy turned to look back at his friend and master. "I am sorry about what happened today. I did not expect Madara to react so harshly to your presence."
Naruto nodded and left the room. He was too tired to think about the events of the day. Sleep called to him, and Naruto answered.
Naruto slammed into the wet ground and felt his right arm break even as he rolled and skidded uncontrollably across the forest floor. Before he could stand up or even take stock of the situation a blow crashed into the side of his chest breaking ribs and driving the air from his lungs.
He had been returning from his morning swim and fishing trip. For the last two weeks Pain and Konan had let him move to and from the river on his own. Now he was regretting it.
Ribs aching, Naruto let forth a pitiable moan as he clutched at his chest with his good arm. His head spun and his vision blurred. He looked up to see his assailant just as another blow landed on his temple knocking his head back against the ground and sending him reeling.
It was the fat man from that day in Pain's study. He was still dressed from head to toe in black with only his two hands uncovered. The man continued to rain blows down on Naruto's now unprotected body. He lost track of how many bones had been broken. He wasn't sure he could count that high.
He needed help.
Where was Pain? Where was Konan? Where was someone? Anyone?
Help me!
He was shocked to hear a voice growl back.
Very well, whelp. I will not abide our destruction!
It felt like liquid fire was flowing through his veins, but at least the aches and pains were gone. His head cleared a bit as he glared up at the fat man towering above him. He had stopped his attacks and appeared to be just staring down at the boy.
Then he jumped back a number of feet.
Naruto stood up slowly – frankly astonished that he could. His body seemed to be wholly recovered from the brutal beating that he had sustained. He took the moment of respite to glance down at himself and gasped when saw clawed hands in front of him. His clawed hands. They were covered in a transparent, red, viscous looking substance that seemed to be rolling off of his body. He looked down at himself and found that he was covered in it.
It was chakra, but he had never seen visible chakra before – only that molded into jutsus. It must be the Kyuubi's. The uncomfortable tingling he felt all over his body was a testament to the malicious character of the monster's chakra. It was slowly burning him alive.
Naruto's attention was drawn back to his surroundings when numerous footfalls alerted him to the presence of others.
He was surrounded by men in black cloaks decorated with crimson clouds. One stepped forward and he recognized Pain looking at him with what seemed like approval. Naruto swiveled his head back to the fat man in black when the man reached up to pull the dark cloth from off of his head and eyes.
Naruto gasped as the eyes pierced his own. Staring back at him from the man were the same rippled steal-blue eyes that he saw every day on Pain's face. This man too had black piercings on his face though they were in seemingly impossible positions - as if they were growing right out of the man's head. The man's hair - slicked back and held in place with the same slashed Ame forehead protector that Pain wore - was the very same rusty orange of Pain's own. In fact, now that Naruto looked around, all of the men surrounding him shared the piercings, hair, and striking eyes of Pain.
"What's going on?"
Pain continued to step towards him slowly – eyes never leaving the boy's own. "Everything is alright, Naruto. How do you feel?"
"Who is that man?"
"He is me. We are all Pain."
Naruto shook off that response. His mind was racing too fast to analyze the words. "Why did he attack me?"
"To force you to draw out Kyuubi's power. We've been unsuccessful so far so I believed that forcing your emotions to rise and Kyuubi to protect you might work." He gestured slowly towards Naruto. "As you can see, it did. Now, how do you feel?"
"Like I'm being stuck with a thousand tiny needles. My skin itches… burns."
"Unsurprising. Now try to draw the chakra back into the seal and close it away. I can assist you if you like." The fat man stepped forward a bit, hands raised slightly.
"No! No, let me try on my own." He was still wary of the man… clone… body that had attacked him. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine drawing the red chakra back into the seal on his stomach but found himself unsuccessful time and time again. The burning sensation that he could feel all over his body continued to increase. "Hurts…"
"I'm going to seal away the excess chakra before it does serious harm." The fat man moved forward but Naruto flinched away.
"I won't hurt you." This time the fat man had spoken in a deep baritone voice.
"It's alright, Naruto. He is me. I'm just trying to help." The original Pain came to stand in front of Naruto with the fat man. "Hold still and relax."
The fat man placed his hands above Naruto's shoulders and continued to stare at the boy's chakra-coated body. It was then that Naruto felt rather than saw the red chakra being sucked away from him. Looking to his right and left he was astonished to see the destructive miasma disappearing into the man's hands.
It was over in moments. The red chakra was gone and Naruto fell forward weakly only to be caught by his master's form. "Are you alright, Naruto?"
"I hurt all over and am a little tired, but yeah, I guess." Naruto struggled to stand on his own but in the end settled for leaning on Pain's arm. Again he turned his attention to the congregation of pierced and menacing men around him. "Who are all of these guys?"
"As I said before, they are me." Seeing Naruto's confused look Pain went on. "Think of them as the most complex clones you've ever seen. How did you think I ran our army always cooped up in the cave?"
"I never really thought about it. So these guys have their own minds like a shadow clone?"
"Not exactly." This came from a slim man with a high ponytail behind his head and a long bang that fell to the right of his face. A truly bizarre piercing stretched across the bridge of his nose and seemed to be driven into the flesh underneath either eye. Naruto didn't want to think about how painful that had been to come by. "We share a collective consciousness. In effect, we are all one and the same. I, Pain, control all six of these bodies simultaneously. They are my Six Paths."
"So… wait. If you're all the same person, then which one of you is the real Pain?"
Naruto never got his answer that day. He was deterred by the six identical, wicked smiles that split the otherwise markedly different faces of the men around him.
It would be a very, very long time before Naruto asked again.
A/N: And there you have Chapter 4.
Please, please, please review this story! The amount of feedback from the last chapter was truly pitiful. I want to know what you liked and what I need to change.
Next Chapter: Gimme Three Steps by Lynyrd Skynyrd. We'll get our first glances at three new (canon) characters as they are introduced to the story. I also think we'll push the clock forward two years or so. Naruto will be eight. Yeah, that sounds about right.